There are no perfect solutions for identity theft. But experts and a victim have ideas

Identity theft happened to me. Notifications about data breaches are even murkier: Most are “not worth the paper they’re written on,” said Eva Velasquez, the CEO of the Identity Theft Resource Center. Velasquez said we need a system where you’re alerted any time someone uses your identity signifiers, like your Social Security number, to create a new bank account or open a line of credit. “We’ve created a system where there’s a massive amount of powerful entities that are addicted to people’s information.” Companies you use and websites you visit can package and sell the data they obtain about you to partners or advertisers — pretty much whomever they want. Victims are unlikely to report the crime to police, police are unlikely to even investigate the ones that do get reported to them, and those reported crimes don’t show up in national crime statistics — so there’s less public outcry that might pressure police into caring more, or pressure lawmakers into passing legislation that would contain the data problem, or pressure credit bureaus into making it easier to resolve disputes.